LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Bellarmine men’s and women’s tennis teams had strong showings for the second consecutive day, as the men defeated Lewis University 7-2 and the women cruised to an 8-1 victory over the visiting Lewis.
The Bellarmine men (7-5, 2-0 GLVC) won all three doubles matches to jump out to an early lead, and then took four of the six singles matches for the victory.
The Bellarmine doubles pairs of senior John Esterle (Louisville/Ballard) and sophomore Nic Janssen-Bernard (Montreal, Canada) along with sophomore Frank Turman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and freshman Nathan Matthews (Cincinnati, Ohio) continued their hot streaks. In No. 2 doubles, Esterle and Janssen-Bernard defeated Lewis’ (1-7, 0-1) Mike Maretich and Doug Fritz, 8-0, for their fourth straight doubles win, while Turman and Matthews matched that win streak with an 8-1 victory over Bret Mega and Chris Meyer in No. 3 doubles.
In No. 2 singles, Janssen-Bernard defeated Maretich, 6-1, 6-2, to improve his overall singles record to 8-4.
Bellarmine junior David Royer (Clarksville, Ind.) made easy work of Lewis’ Bret Mega in No. 5 singles, winning 6-1, 6-0. The win moves Royer’s singles mark to 9-3 on the year, as he has now won nine straight matches.
The Bellarmine women (8-4, 2-0) defeated Lewis 8-1, dropping only the No. 3 singles match en route to their third straight win.
The Knights were pushed to a third set in two of the singles matches, but Bellarmine pulled through in the final set of both.
In No.1 singles, freshman Sarah Roebker (Fort Mitchell, Ky.) defeated Lewis’ (5-2, 0-1) Allison Schmitz, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, and in the No. 2 match, Bellarmine sophomore Abby Showalter (Dayton, Ohio) defeated Erin Piechocinski, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2.
Bellarmine junior Maria Hornung (New Albany, Ind.) remained perfect in singles competition, defeating Jordan Lynde, 6-3, 6-3, in No.4 singles. Hornung is now 9-0 on the season.
In No. 6 singles, senior Monica Penon (San Jose, Costa Rica) won her sixth straight match, defeating Lewis’ Vicky Orlova, 6-1, 6-0.
The next match for the Bellarmine men and women is at rival Northern Kentucky, Friday, April 6.